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BTW By the way
F2F Face to face, a personal meeting
FCOL For crying out loud
FWIW For what it's worth
FYI For your information
GOK God only knows
HHOK Ha, ha–only kidding
HHOS Ha, ha–only serious
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
LOL Laughing out loud
OTOH On the other hand
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
TAFN That's all for now
adapted from: http://www.netlingo.com/
Netiquette - Net Etiquette
Before posting anything to any newsgroup or mailing list, you should understand that there are some well established rules of Netiquette that must be followed.
If you break them, either unintentionally or on purpose, you will give yourself and your service provider a bad reputation, and you are likely to find a lot of angry mail (flaming) filling up your mailbox.
Many people who read mailing lists and newsgroups have limited disk space and time, and they do not want to find inappropriate newsgroup articles wasting their space, time, and money.
Following these rules reduces the noise level in mailing lists and newsgroups, and makes them more valuable for everyone.
1. DON'T ask questions that have already been asked 100 times. Many newsgroups and some mailing lists have FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) files that are regularly posted.
Before asking your question, read the FAQ to see if the answer already exists. Every newsgroup, mailing list site will have a link to Find FAQs.
2. DON'T post an article that is off the topic of the newsgroup or mailing list:
No matter how important something seems to you, and how sure you are everyone wants to know it, stick to the topic! Above all, don't post chain letters (they are illegal).
3. DON'T post a given article to more than one newsgroup or mailing list:
Find the most appropriate newsgroup and post it there. While there will be exceptions to this occasionally, remember that if you separately post the same message in related newsgroups, for example, a lot of people are going to see your message over and over again and get very annoyed.
4. DON'T post any messages to a newsgroup or mailing list without reading about 2 weeks of postings first:
Each group has its own style and unwritten rules about what is acceptable. Learn these before posting! And read the FAQ!
5. DON'T try to sell anything:
If you have a product or service that you are sure people want to know about, it may be all right to post a discreet announcement,
IF you follow the rules above. Post it once and find the right place where people will want to know about it. DON'T post long, detailed information or use a hard sell, however.
Anything but the most non-intrusive means of posting will create ill will towards your product or service. There are newsgroups whose purpose is to announce new products and services. Use them. If you want to sell your wares over the Internet, put up your own web site, and register it.
6. DO Keep your articles short and DON'T send "me, too" or "I agree" messages!
Send private mail to the author, if you want to, but don't clutter up the group with these. There is nothing more annoying than to quote 100 lines and at the end, say, "I agree."
7. DON'T jump in and answer questions posed by others until you have checked to see if they are already answered:
Consider sending your answer privately by mail to the asker, unless you are sure your answer is unique and of general interest to the newsgroup readers as a whole.
8. DON'T use large signatures that fill half a screen! Four lines is the suggested maximum for a regular signature.
9. DON'T publicly respond to others who break the rules. Some people do it just to get the reactions (it's called trolling). The best thing you can do is ignore them.
10. And above all, treat people with respect. Without cues from your face and body language and tone of voice, it is very easy to be misunderstood. A little joke or bit of irony can come across as something completely different.
Also, never type any message in capital letters. It is the computer of equivalent of someone shouting in your ear.
A whole series of symbols have been devised, which can be made using your keyboard to signify emotions like humour and irony. Use them to soften any statement that may sound rude to the reader.
Smileys, for instance, which is the following symbol :-) That's a little smiley face. Look at it sideways.
A range of emotions can be shown using only keyboard characters. Besides the smiley face above, you can have
:- ( if you're sad, or
:-< if you're REALLY upset!
;-) is one way of showing a wink.
Folks wearing glasses might look like this online : %^).
Telecommunications has helped us overcome what has been called the tyranny of distance. We DO have a global village. So watch your manners.
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